The Nepal Stock Exchange (Nepse) index which had reached 482.5 points at the close on Thursday, the last trading day of the week, slid 7.01 points, or 1.45 percent, to close at 475.49 points as stock prices of commercial banks, insurance companies and development banks fell.[break]
“Share prices of many listed companies fell as investors started booking profit on stocks purchased in the past,” Stock Broker Nanda Kishore Mundada told Republica, calling the fall a common phenomenon on the stock market.
Sunday´s slide was led by fall of 2.73 percent, or 12.04 points, recorded by the banking index. The situation was made worse by 1.9-percent drop in insurance sub-index, followed by 1.15 percent fall in stock prices of development banks.
The biggest loser on Sunday was Machhachapuchhre Bank (Promoter Share), which plunged 30 percent to end at Rs 70. Stocks of Standard Chartered Bank Nepal also took a beating, losing 11.47 percent to end at Rs 1,930.
Among others, Clean Energy Development Bank lost 8.38 percent to end at Rs 175, Nepal Credit and Commerce Bank shed Rs 7.23 percent to close at Rs 154 and Everest Bank fell 6.97 percent to close the day´s trading at Rs 1,121.
“The latest fall, however, should not trigger panic as overall investor sentiment on stock market is upbeat due to lack of other investment avenues,” Mundada said.
Many investors are thronging stock market once again as banks and financial institutions have started slashing both deposit and lending rates.
“This, on one hand, has made credit cheaper for those wanting to invest in stock market while, on the other, discouraged depositors to park their money in bank accounts, as returns are now higher on stock market,” Stock Broker Anjan Poudel said.
“In addition, investors have also started leaving commodities and derivatives markets, as the sector is not regulated and risks are simply too high. Most of these investors are also returning to the stock market because of lack of investment avenues.”
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